Don't know the etymology of it, but it's the plate you stack cannon balls on. It's brass, and the balls are iron, so they contract at different rates. At Approx -20f (IIRC) the dimples in the bottom no longer secure the bottom rows, and the stack collapses, literally freezing the balls off. Remember all that from a trip to Valley Forge ~45 years ago. Good times.
Reminds me of a time long ago when Cleveland Weatherman (meteorologist) Wally Kinnan was giving his national report on what was to be a far-below-zero night in the Great Plains. He said, "there's gonna to be a lot of brass monkeys singing soprano tomorrow in North Dakota"
Love that one!
ReplyDeleteYou might be interested in researching the definition(s) and/or etymology of "brass monkey".
ReplyDeleteDon't know the etymology of it, but it's the plate you stack cannon balls on. It's brass, and the balls are iron, so they contract at different rates. At Approx -20f (IIRC) the dimples in the bottom no longer secure the bottom rows, and the stack collapses, literally freezing the balls off.
ReplyDeleteRemember all that from a trip to Valley Forge ~45 years ago.
Good times.
Reminds me of a time long ago when Cleveland Weatherman (meteorologist) Wally Kinnan was giving his national report on what was to be a far-below-zero night in the Great Plains. He said, "there's gonna to be a lot of brass monkeys singing soprano tomorrow in North Dakota"
ReplyDeleteAnd here is where I learned of "Brass Monkey."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EQNgK8r7SM